Only one terrorist, armed with a suicide vest, was responsible for the bombing outside the Kabul airport Thursday, killing at least 13 service members and more than 100 Afghans trying to flee the country, the Pentagon said Friday.
The only explosion was from outside Abbey Gate leading onto the grounds of Hamid Karzai International Airport. There was no second blast at the Baron Hotel, adjacent to the airfield, as had been reported, Department of Defense officials said.
“It was just one suicide bomber. We’re not sure how that report that was provided was incorrect,” said Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the Joint Staff. But “it’s not a surprise that in the confusion, very dynamic events like these can cause information sometimes to be misreported or garbled.”
More attacks are likely before President Biden’s Aug. 31 date to be out of Afghanistan, U.S. officials say.
Still, evacuation flights from the airport continued the day after the bombing, with about 300 U.S. citizens flying out in the last 24 hours, officials said. About 5,100 Americans — and more than 110,000 people total — have been evacuated since the end of July.
“The airport is functioning and we’re going to need it to continue to function right up until the very end,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
With only a few days left until Mr. Biden’s deadline, Pentagon officials are planning how to both provide security at the airfield and help process refugees. They said they may be more frugal with information than they have been.
“We’re going to be very, very mindful of the operational security element,” Mr. Kirby said. “Yesterday is a stark reminder of why that’s important going forward.”
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved more locations where Afghan refugees can stay until they are resettled in the U.S. The installations include Fort Pickett and Marine Corps Base Quantico, both in Virginia, and Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. They had been going to Fort Lee, also in Virginia.
Mr. Austin wants the Department of Defense to have the capacity to process up to 50,000 Afghans.
About 14,000 evacuees have arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, currently the only entry point for the arrivals, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday.
However, flights will start going to the Philadelphia airport as well, he said.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.